Feds recapture 4 immigrants released during Sequester Terror dump

We’ve officially reached the point where every single thing the Obama Administration said about its move to release illegal aliens from detention centers has been revealed as an absolute lie. It was thousands of prisoners, not just a tiny handful, and some of them were indeed dangerous.

Fortunately, the Washington Times reports that the Administration managed to recapture four of the “most dangerous immigrants it released from detention.” Yay!

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton testified to Congress that his agency released 10 “level one” offenders, and has gone out and apprehended four of them. He said the other six are nonviolent.

Mr. Morton also acknowledged that overall, 2,228 immigrants were released — far more than the several hundred the agency had initially acknowledged. Of those, 629 had criminal records, though Mr. Morton said they were low-level offenders.

The releases have drawn a stern rebuke from Republicans, who said it showed mismanaged priorities. They also said ICE’s concession that it released far more immigrants than it first acknowledged dents the agency’s credibility.

“Today’s ICE testimony directly contradicts repeated assurances and explanations peddled by the Obama administration in the days after the mass release of illegal aliens became public knowledge,” said Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. “The American people were initially told there were hundreds, not thousands, of individuals released. We were assured they were low-level detainees of little public risk. As we now know, neither of these claims was accurate.”

Morton is the designated fall guy who supposedly did all this on his own, without Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano or President Obama knowing about it… and, as has become typical of the Obama Administration, they advance this claim of utter incompetence as a defense. Hey, it’s a freaking huge government – its masters don’t know what every part of it happens to be doing at any moment, even when it endangers the public, as with this prisoner release or Operation Fast and Furious. They also can’t be expected to respond to every little request for assistance from every little ambassador trapped in a terrorist hive on the anniversary of 9/11.

But you can trust them to run your health care! In fact, you must. It’s mandatory, forever.

Come to think of it, not even Morton seems to know exactly what he’s done:

Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican and one of those who wrote demanding answers, said Mr. Morton didn’t clear up very much.

“Why was the secretary of Homeland Security not aware of the release of convicted criminals by her own agency? Why did she tell us it was only hundreds who were released when we now learn it was thousands?” he said. “This is evidence of serious mismanagement at DHS under Secretary Napolitano.”

Mr. Morton said his choice was between maintaining 34,000 immigrants in detention or furloughing ICE agents, which he said would curb the agency’s other areas, such as investigations of drug or child pornography cases and money-laundering.

“I don’t think it would be good policy to ask us to maintain 34,000 at the expense of those kinds of investigations,” Mr. Morton said.

All of the immigrants released are still subject to deportation proceedings, and all of them are supposed to be under some sort of supervision, though not all are being electronically monitored.

Mr. Morton was unable to provide exact numbers on that breakdown to the House’s Homeland Security spending subcommittee.

Maybe releasing them on the other side of a securely maintained border would have been a better idea.